Restaurants in Newton

No matter what country her family was living in at the time, Longteine “Nyep” De Monteiro—the wife of a Cambodian diplomat—always heard the same thing when she served dinner at one of her lavish parties: “This is so good! You should open a restaurant!” It wasn't until the rise of the Khmer Rouge forced Longteine and her family to relocate to America that she began to seriously entertain the idea. Longteine finally opened The Elephant Walk in 1991, where she filled the menu with a mélange of her favorite Cambodian and French recipes.

Since then, Longteine’s daughter Nasda and her son-in-law Gerard Lopez helped her expand The Elephant Walk to three locations. All three Elephant Walks separate their kitchens into French and Cambodian preparation lines, each staffed with chefs adept at both traditional and contemporary dishes. Each dish makes meticulous use of flavorful, wholesome ingredients such as ripe plum tomatoes, fresh tuna, Vermont goat cheese, and organic tofu. The Elephant Walk also serves up a host of vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free variants.

The Elephant Walk loves to feed the mind as much as the mouth. During its regularly scheduled Cafe Science series, Brandeis professors deliver compelling lectures on a variety of topics from the Large Hadron Collider to explaining why science alone cannot turn water into chocolate milk. The restaurant has since given upwards of $200,000 to local, national, and international nonprofit organizations fighting poverty.

There are many ways to remove unwanted body hair, but very few methods are actually permanent. Elizabeth Kelly, electrologist and owner of Essential Skin Electrology & Day Spa, understands her clients’ frustrations regarding hair that won’t go away and works together with men and women to gently depilate even their most stubborn body areas. That level of attention also extends to her spa’s other focuses, including skincare. In each service, aestheticians use Dermalogica or Pevonia Botanica products and deeply cleanse faces with more than a dozen different facials customized for dryness, signs of aging, or funny faces that eventually got stuck that way. They also whisk away stress with a handful of massages, each of which may be paired with a therapeutic essential oil.

C. Tsar's culinarians mingle ingredients in epicurean, Mediterranean-inspired fare in addition to arraying thin pizza crusts with gourmet toppings. From the menu, diners can clamp their chompers down on the golden trout, which is escorted by slivers of bacon and an entourage of whipped potatoes ($18). Like a slapstick comedian going through his morning routine, the potato gnocchi ($17) slathers itself in mushroom-cream sauce, freshens itself up with spinach, and stuffs slices of prosciutto into its pockets. Thin-crust pizzas include the margherita, which pedestals a tasty trinity of tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil ($10) and is perfect for slice-sharing with a good friend or long-lost parole officer.

Soft live jazz music fills B Street Restaurant & Bar while servers deliver platters such as pumpkin hummus with grilled naan, wild mushroom ravioli, and glasses of rosé sangria from the full bar. This confluence of cuisine, libations, and music has attracted the attention of Metro magazine. Proprietor and host Elli "Ellen" Kaplansky, credits her grandmothers for instilling in her a passion for food. She fuses this passion with her work experiences with celebrity chefs Todd English and Jody Adams when she chooses her menu of signature dishes such as the 10-ounce char-grilled burger with Vermont cheddar and skillet potatoes.

She also adds inventive twists to entrees such as the pan-seared local cod entree with fire-roasted tomatoes and fresh corn risotto, or the fire-grilled lamb chops with a balsamic cherry glaze. The dining area's cozy booths, tall tables, and a curved bar in tones of brown, orange, and red add warmth to the atmosphere, and the restaurant adds warmth to the community by reaching out to partner with local charities both financially and with a poker stick that stretches several city blocks.

Appetito's sleek, modern interior, with its burnished wood bar and polished windows, is indicative of the contemporary sensibilities with which its kitchen interprets classic Italian fare. Handmade pastas, fresh herbs, and seasonal heirloom vegetables furnish brunch, lunch, and dinner menus. On weekends, diners can sit down to a hearty brunch dish such as the challah french toast, which oozes with strawberries and rum-splashed bananas. During the week, the dining room hums with energy generated by tables chatting amicably and digging into five styles of focaccia paninis or savory pasta dishes, such as gnocchi polloi with mascarpone.

Mediterranean Grill’s kitchen fires up traditional Mediterranean cuisine, crafting kebabs of seared lamb, beef, or chicken threaded with onions and peppers. Appetizers include creamy hummus, grape leaves stuffed with rice and veggies, and the mediterranean platter loaded with olives, grilled sausage, dolmas, and cheese pie, a combination of treats that most Santas prefer over cookies and milk.

The chefs at Café Nicholas adorn pizzas with one of three sauces before adding a heaping handful of toppings chosen from more than 30 options. Within the pizzeria's art deco-inspired walls, guests dig into 35 types of sandwiches, homemade pastas, and pizzas crowned with traditional and unique ingredients such as prosciutto, shrimp, and eggplant. For diners with gluten allergies, the cooks can substitute gluten-free crust for any of their pizzas. They also cater to low-fat tastes by serving up salads with low-cal dressings, frying appetizers in cholesterol-free canola oil, and pouring unlimited glasses of calorie-free water.